”Go-Go-Go” Is life coaching another American New Age fad, delivering yet another empty promise of helping us live better lives?

Whether we want to lose weight, get a new job, succeed in business, more education, relationship help, financial relief, smoking, drugs or alcohol cessation, help with depression, overall happiness and countless others, everyone has changes we’d like to see made in our lives.

We are forever setting goals and hoping for changes. New Years is a famous time, but rarely do we find success. Certain seasons and events in our lives push our buttons and we try over and over but rigid patterns of behavior prevent us from making the changes we want.

To make sweeping changes in our lives is difficult and we tend to feel stuck and helpless when we fail to do so. We often blame ourselves and become resigned to the idea that we are who we are and that change is impossible, repeating our patterns in an endless cycle of frustration. As Freud put it, “We tend to recreate in our lives that which we have not worked through.”

There are many professional approaches to assist in learning about ourselves and changing our patterns of behavior. Some approaches are better than others and sometimes one approach can have amazing effects on one individual and yield less than satisfactory results with another.

Life coaching is a relatively new approach to improving one’s overall condition and as such, some may feel unsure about its robustness. But consider that much of what is mainstream today was once viewed as new and cutting edge, even controversial is some cases, such as the notion of a round earth. People once held the strong conviction that the earth was flat until it was proved otherwise. Life coaching is becoming more mainstream because it is proactive and delivers positive results.

As its popularity grows, more people are starting to ask, “What is life coaching?” Think of life coaching as much like coaching sports. In sports the goals are clear and the techniques to accomplish them are learned by those playing them. Coaches review these techniques with players, making sure they practice the right steps to accomplish the desired results. During a game, a coach is watching to see if the proper techniques are applied, pushing and motivating the players to perform them.

Certain goals may seem too ambitious to confront or even know where to begin. As daunting as these goals may be, specific methods do exist to accomplish them. A qualified life coach can break down your goals so that you know where to start and what specific steps to take to ultimately accomplish them. However, just knowing what to do is often not enough because we get in our own way. We tell ourselves that we lack the time or the money; we’ll get to it later; we’ll start tomorrow; this one time is ok; I’ll have a last piece of cake, cigarette or drink; or it’s not my fault I don’t feel good. These fixed ideas are what prevent us from the changes we want.

Once goals are broken down into manageable steps, a life coach will be there to assess progress and motivate the individual toward consistent behavior patterns that produce results. Not only will permanent successful routines be established, but they will bring about new actions that achieve even higher levels of success. There won’t be any cheerleaders there to shout as you score, but you will certainly be smiling all the same as you are finally making the changes you want and enjoying new winning patterns and results in your life.

But don’t get too excited yet. Simply dialing your local life coach won’t guarantee success. As with all professions, there are varying degrees of expertise and ability. Life coaching also lacks conformity to a universal approach; however, as the practice continues to take hold, a standard methodology will become more defined.

To insure that you will obtain the results you want, find out if anyone you know has used a life coach before deciding on one. If not, ask the perspective coach for references and a clear picture of their overall approach. Also make sure you are comfortable with the person.

If you are ready to get into action and start living your life with new results, look into finding a qualified life coach and remember that we each do have the ability to change and create the lives we want.